The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-10-19
The Source of Our High Priced
School Books.

For years our people have complained at
the high price charged for our school DOCKS.
That complaint may have been we'll rounded
under a system which authorizes a commit
tee Of officers TO assume to direct an lntelIl-
gent and free people from whom they must
buy their school books.
Areour teachers incompetent that q commit
tee of State officers must direct them ms to
any particular publication? Are our people
fools that they have not sense enough to buy
a school book? Are our Legislators interest
ed in the welfare of any Northern school
book publishing house, that they VIII enact
law whereby it may not only enforce the sale
of their books, but whereby 1t may also exact
a royalty for each book sold?
The State OF South Carolina owes 1t to her
good name to open the doors of every pub
fishing house to our people.
BY doing this the offensive histories OF the
war may may be suppressed in greater de-
gree than in any other way. Every publ1sher
likes to have the largest sale possible for MS
books, and for this reason, with an open
market and a fair field, no publisher would
knowingly cut off the possibility OF making
any of the Southern States his customers.
Our Legislature should not place our officers
In q position to do either themselves or the
people a wrong. 1t will be remembered that
a few years ago, one publisher bought up all
the books of a rival publisher, which may
have been in the hands of the children, for the
express purpose of destroying them, and In
PRODUCING his own. Does anybody believe
that such thing could have been done in
legitimate way of conducting business? =? The
new booksellers having exclusive right could
charge what he pleased, and In that way
make the children refund the money spent IN
buying the old books.
No blame attaches to the State officers for
this condition of affairs. Our Legislators are
responsible for the law which requires these
officers to offer an indignity to the teachers
and which authorizes the publishers to extort
exhorbitant prices from our children.
The following letter may throw some light
on the subject:
To the School Commissioner:
DEAR SIR The following resolutions o.
the State Board Of Examiners are puDiished ,d
for the tSs stat ana OF
Resolved, That there be introduced into the
course OF study In the public schools instruc-
ton In Physiology @ and aygiene mat at TEX, ,be
September 9TH, 1885,.
At a subsequent meeting Of the Board, held
October 10th, 1886, the following resolution
wat adopted:
Resolved, That the "Prlmer Of Physiology
and Hygiene" and "The Human Body and Its
HEALTH" published by Ivison Brakeman Tay-
ior & Co., of New York, be prescribed as text
books to be used In the public schools
of the State.
In addition the Board recommended as
supplemental reading book for the higher
schools and academies, "The Man Wonderful
in the House Beautiful" published by the
Educational Publishing Company Of New
York.
In view of the fact that the teachers Of the
State have no official notice Of this action of
the State. Board, ! have hitherto refrained
from placing questions upon Physiology and
Hygiene upon the County examination pa-
pers. In future, however, all teachers In pub
lie schools will be required to stand an ex-
animation up.n these branches, and request
that you give due notice of the fact to the
teachers Of your County. JAMES II. RICE,
State Supt. Education.
We do not speak advisedly, but we are OF
opinion that the common school law does not
contemplate aid to the "higher schools and
academies"